Dave Portnoy apparently may be essential of Caitlin Clark.
The Barstool Sports activities honcho and Clark superfan referred to as out the Fever star for being “terrible” in a 88-77 upset highway loss Thursday in opposition to the enlargement Valkyries.
Clark shot 3-of-14 and missed all seven of her 3-point makes an attempt, whereas tying her season-low with 11 factors.
“Caitlin had terrible game. Happy for Kate Martin though,” Portnoy tweeted shortly after midnight.
“Also Golden State is 1st crowd I’ve seen that was a true home crowd that was there for their team and not for Caitlin. Good for WNBA.”
Portnoy is normally one of the ardent supporters one can discover on social media, so for him to even communicate negatively about Clark — even in a tame method by his requirements — is a shocker.
Earlier this week following Tuesday’s melee in opposition to the Solar that featured the previous No. 1 decide being bumped to the ground, he went on the offensive in opposition to the WNBA — and even Stephen A. Smith.
Portnoy instantly referred to as out Solar star Marina Mabrey for knocking Clark to the ground.
“Imagine not kicking Marina Mabrey out after she assaults the face of the league?” Portnoy wrote Tuesday in a quote tweet that includes the play. “Sick league @WNBA. Also shouldn’t have been a tech on Caitlin since that girl got in her face after gouging her eyes.”
He later chided Smith for his Solitaire scandal after Smith mentioned Clark may be an instigator.
“I’ll take things that never happened but ESPN always pretends did for 100 Alex,” Portnoy tweeted in reference to Smith saying Clark began sure skirmishes. “Less solitaire. More facts.”
On this case, Portnoy didn’t come speeding Clark’s protection after she had a tough evening out west.
Thursday marked the second time she missed all of her pictures from deep this yr after failing to take action as soon as in her rookie season.
With Clark not offering her regular regular manufacturing, the Fever (6-6) wasted a 13-point lead.
The Valkyries (6-6) outscored the Fever, 33-18, within the fourth quarter.
“They did a really good job of being physical with her. That’s going to be the game plan all year long,” Fever interim coach Austin Kelly mentioned.
“I think the lack of ball movement kind of allowed them to just really beat her up. When we move it, a lot of stuff happens, we’re able to punch gaps, get to our sprays and it gets back to her, that’s when she’s going to get the good looks. But they did a good job of being physical and making it tough for her at the point.”
Golden State coach Natalie Nakase confirmed that her gamers took a bodily method to stymie Clark.
“We were being disruptive. We know she doesn’t like physicality,” Nakase mentioned. “We know that she wants to get to that left stepback. I watched her in Iowa, she loves that left stepback, it’s almost like a layup for her. We’re making sure she wasn’t getting into rhythm and then that she was seeing multiple bodies.”
